Violent Crime

Gun Crime Incident Reviews

Key Findings

The results showed that police departments used different types of reviews to categorize and collect gun violence data.

In all three primary police departments, federal, state and local and street-level officers were involved in reviewing gun violence.

All three primary police departments used local prosecutors and a combination of probation and parole, community corrections, and the Department of Corrections in their gun violence reviewing process.

All three police sites included research teams who conducted incident reviews and were affiliated with local universities

Description

In the article, “Gun Crime Incident Reviews as a Strategy for Enhancing Problem Solving and Information Sharing,” Hipple and her co-authors focus on data collection methods by police departments on gun violence. The study was funded by the National Institute of Justice over a ten-month period. The researchers worked with three midwestern urban and rural police departments (with one added mid-way through) to collect their data, which included examining the review processes by which the departments review gun violence in their jurisdictions. The results showed that departments used different types of reviews to categorize and collect gun violence data. For example, one department conducted bi-weekly location-driven review of gun violence while another only reviewed criminal gun violence monthly. In all three primary departments, federal, state and local and street-level officers were involved in reviewing gun violence.All three primary police departments used local prosecutors and a combination of probation and parole, community corrections, and the Department of Corrections in their gun violence reviewing process. Finally, all three police sites included research teams who conducted incident reviews and were affiliated with local universities. The authors conclude that these review processes help source additional information to describe gun violence at a larger level and in turn provide better strategies to reduce gun violence. They also hope to apply the review strategies they observed to combat other types of crime.